Metroid: Mission Alpha

Episode 16: Escape!

Samus and Alpha had been sent on an urgent mission to the planet Noctre after recovering the Eternal Orbs from Lavolca. Now they were in the Gunship, following the CM's map to the planet to search for the distress signal's reason.

Samus landed the Gunship on Noctre, a dark planet surrounded in mist. The first thing she noticed upon landing was that the CM's screen had changed to static, and there was no signal from its speaker. "It looks like somehow, the CM gets no signal while on Noctre," she said, "We'll have to carry out this mission without it."

Samus and Alpha left the Gunship and came onto Noctre's surface. The environment was dark and fog filled the air. There was a mysterious stillness all around and few signs of life, giving this place an ominous feeling. Unafraid, Samus and Alpha carried on, but soon Alpha saw something unusual. He ran over to a wall of darkness on a large building and looked at it, but suddenly he was pulled inside. He yelped in surprise. "Alpha!" Samus ran to help him, but he was already gone, so she went inside the wall.

Samus landed beside where Alpha was standing in a dimly lit room. She looked around at the rather plain surroundings. "We must be inside that building," she said softly, "but what is this place?" Alpha and she decided to investigate.

In another room, a pale green alien with blank black eyes was working in a lab. "Dusk, bring Subjects 13 and 14 here for studying," he said.

Another, slightly shorter alien came into the room, carrying a cage. "Here they are, Twilight," he said, placing the cage on the table.

Inside the cage were two small monkey-like creatures with blue and white fur and yellow eyes-a pair of Etecoons. The male tried to look more opposing while the slightly smaller female drew back from Twilight. "Ah yes, the Etecoon pair from Planet Zebes," Twilight said, "Very interesting."

At that moment, a nearby computer beeped. Dusk went over to it. "Two intruders have somehow entered the building!" he said, seeing Samus and Alpha on the screen, "One is a wolf-like creature I don't recognize. The other is covered in armor; there's no way to tell who he or she is."

"They will be interesting to research. Drop a cage on them when they get to the research auxiliary; label the wolf-like one Subject 15, and the armored one Subject 16. Then we can scan and identify them."

Samus and Alpha entered another room when suddenly a cage fell around them, trapping them. They jumped back in surprise. "What's going on?" Samus said, but before Alpha or she could do anything, a small machine shone a light on them, moving down in front of them. Both of them stood motionless and apprehensive.

"The subjects have been identified," Dusk told Twilight, "Subject 15, male Snacanid from the planet Venine. Subject 16, female with unusual DNA: mostly human with a small amount of Chozo."

Twilight looked shocked. "How can that be? I've heard that the Chozo race was entirely wiped out some time ago!"

"Well, I've heard that shortly before their extinction, the Chozo took in and raised an orphaned human child. I believe Subject 16 may have been that child-her armor even resembles their craftsmanship."

"Most interesting. Let's have a closer look at these new captives after we return Subjects 13 and 14 to the subject room," Twilight said.

Samus and Alpha were looking at the bars of their cage. "We have to find a way out of here!" Samus said. Then, Dusk and Twilight entered the room. "Who are you?" Samus asked, cautious.

"I am Twilight, and this is Dusk," Twilight replied, "We are Noctrans, two members of the Noctran civilization. We are researchers in this building, the Noctran Research Center. Our job is to seek out, capture, and study creatures from other planets."

"You are now our captives-your Snacanid is Subject 15, and you are Subject 16. Don't worry, you will be cared for in your new home," Dusk added.

"We are not subjects-I'm Samus, and that's Alpha! We were sent here on an important mission, so I insist that you let us go!" Samus said.

At that moment, there was a loud beep. Dusk ran over to a device on the wall. "Subject 10 has escaped!" he exclaimed.

"What?!" Twilight immediately rushed out of the room with him.

"Now's our chance!" Samus said once the Noctrans had gone. Alpha and she used some of their abilities, but nothing happened. So Samus used her X-ray Scope. A light came from her visor that allowed her to see the weakness of the cage's bars. "I can free us with a Power Bomb," she said, "Use your Fire ability and be prepared for a blast." Alpha used his Fire ability and watched as Samus morphed into a ball and put a small bomb on the ground. A few seconds later, the entire room flashed with light, and the cage broke. A loud beep sounded again, and Samus came out of ball form. "Those Noctrans will likely be searching for us," she said, "Let's hurry!"

Samus and Alpha ran out of the research auxiliary and through a few laboratory-like rooms. After that they came to a hall, where they could see Dusk and Twilight running out of a room. Samus and Alpha stood against the wall, looking carefully around the corner. Fortunately the Noctrans did not see them and were soon out of sight, so they continued on.

Shortly, Samus and Alpha came to the subject room, where cages lined the walls. Of the cages, only two were occupied. "This must be where they keep the captive creatures," Samus said. She looked at the labels on the cages, each with the image and name of a creature.

The first creature was one Samus knew all too well. "Subject 1 was a Metroid," she said, "I've encountered those ferocious creatures many times on my missions. They feed on the life energy of other creatures. That one perished, likely because it was not allowed to feed." Several cages after that had housed creatures she did not recognize. "Subjects 2 to 9 were all released due to being distractive, and Subject 10, the one that just escaped…" she stopped, noticing that on the label was a small black dragon-like creature with a harmless appearance; yet it was labeled as "Unknown Species" and its cage was in ruins, with a huge hole in the wall behind it. "How could that small creature cause so much damage?"

Samus saw that in the next two cages were two large bird-like, greenish creatures and the two Etecoons. "Subjects 11 and 12 are Dachoras, and Subjects 13 and 14 are Etecoons!" she exclaimed, "These creatures are from Planet Zebes. I've met them before, although I believe these are different ones." She went over to their cages, where they looked slightly afraid. "Don't be afraid," Samus said gently, "We'll try to get you out of here." Alpha barked softly in reassurance, soothing the creatures. Then Samus used Super Missiles to break the locks of the cages and opened their doors.

Suddenly, everyone heard voices. "Dusk and Twilight are coming back!" Samus said softly, "We've got to hurry!" She took the male Etecoon in her arms, and Alpha took the female on his back. Then they, alongside the two Dachoras, raced into Subject 10's cell. They looked at the hole in the wall for a moment, but since there was no time, they went into it.

As soon as the six of them entered the hole, something strange happened. It felt as if the ground vanished from beneath their feet, and they were floating helplessly in a sea of darkness. All that surrounded them was dark emptiness that seemed to swallow them, and there was no sound.

Suddenly Samus and Alpha felt an impact with the ground. Scrambling to their feet, they scanned their surroundings. They appeared to be back in Noctre's environment; besides the slight wind that blew across the field, all was still and silent. Strangely, the Etecoons and Dachoras were nowhere in sight. "What happened? Where are we now? And what happened to the Etecoons and Dachoras?" Samus wondered. But there was no answer to her questions except Alpha's worried whimper and the quiet of the environment. What is going on on Noctre? Will Samus and Alpha be able to solve this new mystery? Find out in episode 17!

(Original story from March 2017)